David Farrar Lies About Homelessness

Once again, David Farrar, the perennial cheerleader for the National Party, has taken to his Kiwiblog platform to peddle distortions about homelessness under the Labour government. His latest post, “Labour increased homelessness,” is a dishonest exercise in selective storytelling, cherry-picking statistics to paint a grim picture of Jacinda Ardern's tenure while glossing over the social devastation wrought by the current government's austerity. Farrar’s tactics are emblematic of a broader right-wing strategy: deflect accountability for the social destruction their policies are causing by weaponising numbers and half-truths against the previous administration.


Yesterday, Kiwiblog posted:

Labour increased homelessness

Do you recall Jacinda promised to solve homelessness? I think she said in four weeks.

Would it surprise anyone to learn that according to the census, it increased 37%?

The Homelessness Insights report shows that the numbers homeless increased from 3,624 in 2018 to 4,965 in 2023. In the previous five years, it dropped 12%. So Key and English saw a 12% decline and Ardern a 37% increase.

So let's dive right in. Farrar claims homelessness surged 37% under Labour, citing the Homelessness Insights Report, which shows an increase in the “without shelter” category from 3,624 in 2018 to 4,965 in 2023. The figure is accurate but deceptively narrow. The broader 2023 Census data reveals severe housing deprivation rose by a more modest 13%, from 99,462 to 112,496 people. By fixating on the most dramatic statistic, Farrar obscures the full context, including improved Census methodologies and statistics gathering for homeless people that better captured the true extent of the problem in 2023, which likely accounts for the 13% increase. This isn’t analysis by the National Party's gnome, it’s sleight of hand, designed to inflame rather than inform.

More egregiously, Farrar fabricates a claim that Jacinda Ardern promised to solve homelessness within four weeks. However, no such pledge exists. It's a complete lie by an irrelevant blogger who should retire. It's true that Ardern’s 2017 campaign focused on addressing the housing crisis and reducing homelessness, with commitments to expand public housing and tackle systemic issues like affordability. But Farrar’s “four weeks” assertion is a baseless caricature, echoing the right’s penchant for trying to rewrite history to discredit progressive leadership. It’s a lazy smear, unsupported by any evidence, yet perfectly aligned with the National Party’s false narrative about Labour’s governance.

David Farrar dressed as Jimmy Saville

This dishonesty isn’t Farrar’s alone. National Party leaders like Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis have similarly leaned on selective data to attack Labour’s record while ignoring their own government’s failures. Since taking office in 2023, the coalition of chaos has tightened emergency housing eligibility, with a 386% spike in rejections by the Ministry of Social Development in 2024, often for vague reasons like applicants, including women trying to escape domestic abuse, “contributing to their own homelessness.”

These changes, championed by Housing Minister Chris Bishop, have pushed vulnerable families out of motels and into precarious situations, with no clear alternative. Labour’s Duncan Webb has warned that such policies risk leaving families “stranded,” a critique echoed in a 24 July 2025 Labour press release noting large increases in homelessness under Luxon’s watch. Farrar and National conveniently omit this, blaming Labour while their own policies intentionally dismantle New Zealand's safety nets.

The right’s hypocrisy is stark. Farrar’s post contrasts a supposed 12% homelessness drop under John Key and Bill English with Labour’s 37% rise, but this comparison is very flawed. The 12% figure likely refers to broader housing deprivation (2013–2018), not the “without shelter” category he cites, and pre-2018 data collection was less rigorous, undercounting rough sleepers by thousands. Meanwhile, National’s current emergency housing restrictions are driving people onto the streets, with no acknowledgment from Farrar.

This mirrors a broader right-wing pattern: implement austerity, cancel state house builds, deregulate housing markets, and then blame progressives when the social fabric frays. Farrar’s distortions aren't just about numbers, they’re about deflecting from the human cost of right-wing governance.

By misrepresenting data and fabricating promises, Farrar and National obscure their own role in deepening inequality, of which Aotearoa ranks within the top third of OECD countries. New Zealanders deserve better than this tired playbook of deception, they deserve a government that faces the housing crisis head-on, not one that spins statistics to dodge accountability.

National's Blogger David Farrar Smears Senior Doctors

Right-wing blogger David Farrar, the National Party’s go to spin merchant, has been at it again with another smear job, this time targeting New Zealand’s senior doctors. His latest hit piece, as dissected by Ian Powell on Scoop, is a textbook example of how to prop up a failing government’s anti-health agenda with half-truths and bad faith. Farrar’s attack on salaried senior doctors at Health New Zealand (HNZ) isn’t just lazy propaganda…it’s a deliberate attempt to distract from the Coalition’s gutting of our public health system.

Farrar’s blog, Kiwiblog, has long been a mouthpiece for National’s talking points, and his recent post attacking senior doctors is no exception. He paints them as overpaid, underworked, and somehow responsible for HNZ’s woes. Sound familiar? It’s the same tired playbook National always trots out to justify slashing health budgets and privatising services. Powell nails it: Farrar’s “predictable smear” cherry-picks data to vilify doctors while ignoring the real issues…chronic underfunding and mismanagement by a government hell-bent on austerity.

Yesterday, Scoop reported:

Predictable Smear On Senior Doctors

...

Joining in on misrepresentation and smearing

Now right-wing blogger David Farrar has jumped in support of Brown with his own smear on his Kiwiblog site (7 May): Perks smear. He alleges that salaried senior doctors employed by Health New Zealand and the Ministry of Health received “huge perks”.

It is important to understand what perks are (and what they are not). They are additional benefits to enhance the employment package such as health insurance or a company car. They don’t involve reimbursement of actual and reasonable work-related expenses.

The problem with Farrar’s argument is that it is based on major errors and sloppy homework. This is not new territory for him.

I have previously called him out (11 December) for erroneous claims about resident (junior) doctors leaving for Australia: Farrar’s incomplete health workforce analysis.

Farrar’s hearsay evidence

On this second occasion his evidence is based on a reader writing to him claiming that salaried senior doctors employed by:

… Health NZ and the Ministry of Health get generous leave and expenses for so-called professional development – which is often an overseas conference in an exotic location – flying business class and staying in a premium hotel. I have this on good authority from someone who processes the claims! This leave and generous allowance which can accumulated for two or more years.

This is hardly robust investigation. At best it is hearsay. To begin with, Health Ministry employed senior doctors are not covered by the collective agreement covering Health New Zealand employed senior doctors.

Farrar is discussing something that applies to the latter, not the former. Further, claims to the two different employers would not be processed by the same person

By referring only to one part of the entitlement and then incorrectly calling it an allowance, he is both selective and factually wrong.

 

Everybody should realise that senior doctors aren’t the problem. They’re the backbone of a public health system stretched to breaking point by years of neglect. HNZ is bleeding staff, with junior doctors fleeing to Australia for better pay and conditions, as Powell’s earlier piece on Farrar’s “incomplete” workforce analysis pointed out. Yet Farrar has the gall to scapegoat doctors, who are working overtime to keep hospitals running despite crumbling infrastructure and impossible workloads. Farrar’s blog post isn’t analysis; it’s disinformation designed to soften the ground for National’s next round of cuts…all with the long-term goal of privatising our health system.

The timing stinks, too. National’s health policy is a shambles...with Health NZ’s disestablishment of expert teams and a “slash and burn” approach under Commissioner Lester Levy starting to really bight. Farrar’s smear dovetails perfectly with the government’s narrative that public sector workers, not government incompetence, is to blame for the crisis. Powell rightly calls this out, noting how Farrar’s attack aligns with National’s push to deflect from their failure to fund health properly. It’s classic misdirection: blame the workers, not the policies causing the problems.

What’s galling is Farrar’s intellectual dishonesty. He ignores the complexity of healthcare delivery, where senior doctors juggle clinical work, training, and system leadership. Instead, he spins a simplistic yarn about “productivity” to fuel public resentment. This isn’t just wrong, it’s dangerously disingenuous. Eroding trust in doctors undermines the entire health system, paving the way for National’s mates in private healthcare to swoop in and scoop up talent they haven’t paid for. You might call me paranoid, but just look at the creeping privatisation under this government, from private hospital contracts to outsourcing services to make waiting times look better than they actually are. Privatisation is the goal, and the National-led government isn’t afraid to gut our health system or demoralise Doctors to achieve it.

Most New Zealanders know this game. National’s anti-health policies (underfunding and now smearing frontline workers) are underhanded tactics tearing apart a system we all rely on. Farrar’s role is to provide the ideological cover, dressing up austerity as reform. But we’re not buying it. Senior doctors deserve our support, not baseless attacks from a blogger shilling for a government that’s failing on numerous fronts.

Contrasting campaign styles

Political campaigning takes many forms, from claims of a stable and economically dependable government while ignoring extensive social and environmental degradation to doing what's right knowing it won’t always please everybody all the time. But there’s another side to political campaigning in New Zealand, one that is often very ugly indeed.

A good example of this darker side of politics was when Metiria Turei was bullied out of parliament this week during another chapter of the dirty politics saga. She chose to resign because her family was being targeted by right wing sycophants like David Farrar, Matthew Hooton and Cameron Slater, just to name a few.

Personally I’ve always thought a politician’s family was out of bounds… however that no longer appears to be the case.

On Wednesday, the NZ Herald reported:

Metiria Turei has resigned as Green Party co-leader, saying scrutiny of her family over her past welfare history had become unbearable.

…

Speaking to media this evening, Turei said that if she continued as co leader it would undermine all the Green Party's hard work over many years.

The scrutiny, which had "become unbearable, frankly" was the main reason for standing down, and she was not expecting further damaging revelations which would have forced her to resign.

Since opening a conversation about the reality of poverty in New Zealand and the solutions to it, she and her family had been under extreme scrutiny.

The right wing relied upon the fact that most people simply don’t have the stomach for dirty politics and just wanted the ugliness to stop. It won't though... the right wing will hone and repeat their attack lines against the Green party over this ad infinitum.

In one case we had a rolling mall of right wing blogs making up lies and in another we had mainstream media people like Patrick Gower claiming that the resignation was because of bad polling, even though Metiria Turei had already clearly stated that it was because of her family being overly scrutinised.

In my opinion attacking a persons mother and daughter is really the lowest of the low, and those on the right, including some media, should feel highly ashamed about their misconduct.

Even rugby, in these wet muddy conditions with all the head high tackles, eye gouging and broken backs, seems like a wholesome clean sport compared to the underhanded tactics now being employed by right wing political parties and their biased media minders. I mean who on the left really has the stomach to play by their rules?

Contrast that ugly spectacle with an entirely reasonable request by Winston Peters and a transparent ground based campaign against Mike Hosking, asking that he not be employed to host the upcoming debates. There are now three petitions calling for TVNZ to contract someone else, with the largest currently having over 48,000 signatories.

The online campaigning against Hosking on left wing blogs is in most cases without any intellectual violence as well, unlike the vile nest of right wing vipers on sites like Kiwibog and Whaleoil. Their defamations have meant a good politician has left parliament because of something that occurred 25 years ago, which is insignificant in the political scheme of things. Politicians like Bill English, who have done far worse, have stayed on simply because the left doesn’t have the same media based attack system as the right.

Yesterday, the NZ Herald reported:

Hosking believed he ran a "reasonable sort of debate" last time and expects this year's debates to be even bigger.

"To be fair, and without blowing my own trumpet in any way shape or form, which I would never do, I think at the end of the day it was widely considered that we ran a pretty reasonable sort of debate.

"The other thing is, it rated through the roof, they were huge numbers last time and the irony was this time we're thinking 'how's this going to go?'. I think it's going to be bigger than last time, there's even more interest in it."

He said people would complain no matter who the moderator was.

"That's the way it works."

Having Hosking as a debate host is like having a rugby teams coach as the bloody ref.

Hosking is correct about one thing though, people always complain. However it’s the amount of people complaining that means TVNZ should reconsider its controversial choice to have a biased presenter. The last thing this election campaign needs is some idiot like Mike Hosking throwing more petrol on the fire.

Comparing Turei with Garrett is stupid

Comparing Metiria Turei with David Garrett is really stupid, and here's why...

The difference couldn't be greater. Turei came clean and is actively working to establish how much she should repay. This is a significant factor in how such situations are resolved. WINZ will only look to initiate a legal proceeding if there's a refusal to repay and clear evidence of wrongdoing.

Unless there’s significant political interference, WINZ won’t be looking to prosecute anybody for such an overpayment where recompense is going to be made.

In contrast, stealing the identity of a dead baby and using it to procure a false passport are significant offences. A clear difference also exists with Garrett trying to hide his crimes with further misleading statements and manipulations of the legal system. The fact that Garrett was discharged without conviction for this crime is still in my opinion a travesty of justice.

There also seems to be some confusion in that somebody can still be guilty of an offence even when a discharged without conviction ruling is determined. Garrett was found to have stolen the identity of a dead baby, which he used to acquire a false passport. But the judge decided this shouldn’t be held against Garrett so that he could continue practicing law.

The fact that Garrett omitted crucial evidence from that trial while Turei is providing relevant information to the public, media and WINZ is a significant difference as well. Turie is speaking out to highlight the predicament of struggling beneficiaries, while Garrett tried his best to keep his offending completely secret. He still hasn’t owned up about the exact reason he procured a false passport in the name of a dead baby either.

There are further contrasting circumstances, like swearing a false affidavit to the court. Garrett committed the serious offence of perjury when he swore under oath a statement he knew to be false, which can carry a sentence of imprisonment for 7 years.

However instead of a jail sentence, Garrett was fined $8,430 and suspended from practicing as a lawyer for one year. In my opinion he got off very lightly. A member of parliament is automatically prohibited from the House of Representatives on conviction of a crime where the maximum sentence is 2 years or more. However by the time this crime was ruled upon the former Act party MP had already slithered his way out of parliament.

Those facts don't seem to matter to the disgraced David Garret though, who yesterday wrote:

In other words absolutely everything she says about what she was doing in 1993 is complete and utter bullshit.

Who the hell would hire this moron to represent them?

It's worth mentioning that some of Garrett’s serious offending in New Zealand occurred when he was 48, only three years before he became a member of parliament where he initiated the ineffective three strikes legislation. There really is no comparison... Turei’s misdemeanours occurred 25 years ago when she was only 23.

Turei has also clarified that she registered in an electorate she wasn’t actually living in so she could vote for a friend. However the maximum sentence for that is only 3 months or a fine of up to $2000. There is also a time limit of ten years for when proceedings can be undertaken, meaning no charges will be laid.

Consider also the response concerning John Key and Bill English being registered in an electorate they didn't actually reside in so they could vote for themselves. None of the right wing propagandists requested Key or English to resign, so why are they requesting the Greens' co-leader do so now?

The hypocritical right wing lackeys screaming until they’re blue in the face about Turei having to resign is simply ridiculous! It makes them look like the biased fools they truly are. There is no moral or legal reason for the reputable Metiria Turei to resign from the Green party or parliament… in fact quite the opposite. Turei is being honest and up front about what she had to do to ensure her family survived... and for that she should be commended.

No comparison in substandard housing

The hypocrisy of the right wing concerning substandard accommodation couldn’t be more apparent this week. Happy to try and take the focus off of their Todd Barclay problem, the right wing propagandists are clearly overreacting to Labour’s voluntary overseas student's controversy.

Take the ever-deluded David Farrar for instance. Remaining silent about the Nation story last Saturday concerning the terrible rat infested dumps Kiwi’s are being charged the earth to live in, Farrar still has the gall to get on his high horse and have a go at Labour about substandard accommodation.

Yesterday, David Farrar wrote:

Labour’s foreign campaign workers put up in sub-standard accommodation

So Labour has turned into a landlord putting people up in crowded and unsanitary conditions at the same time they demand all other landlords meet a WOF standard and camoaign against over-crowded accomodation.

Today, Radio NZ reported the marae's response:

Awataha Marae rejects 'substandard' housings claim

The marae housing Labour's international interns is not substandard, Trust bosses say, while local Māori say they have been fighting for access to the marae for years.

About 90 interns were invited to New Zealand to work on voter enrolment, and were based at Awataha marae on the North Shore where they were staying for free.

Awataha Marae is pretty new and although the accomodation is basic, it isn't substandard. When you look at the conditions of some boarding houses with those at the marae, there is obviously no comparison.

Here is a photo of the apparently “crowded and unsanitary conditions” at Awataha Marae:

... And here's a couple of photos of a boarding house that the National led government through their austerity and the Auckland City Council through their mismanagement has allowed to let fester:

Just goes to show how biased and conceited the right wing really are.

Still baying for blood

An entire week after the election, which is a long time in politics, and the media are still picking over the bones while not really reporting the news. If anything their criticism of David Cunliffe for not publicly committing Hara-Kiri has increased. The collective howling in today's NZ Herald in particular makes it pretty obvious that they're still taking their cues from National party attack bloggers like David Farrar and Cameron Slater.

Here's a little tweet by Bill Ralston that nicely sums up their collective mentality:

@barrysoper Take up position in 3.2 Barry and wait for the blood to leak down the corridor.
— Bill Ralston (@BillyRalston) September 23, 2014

Of course the media have transferred their own lust for another sacrifice onto the Labour party, who aren't doing themselves many favours by playing along. With the biased media franticly flailing about and using any nuance to attack Labour, any contest for the leadership still needs to be run on Labour's terms and result in a positive outcome.

The second target on the list, Kim Dotcom, has also come under increased pressure, but for what reason isn't clear. Perhaps the right wing still fears that a resurgent Internet party will one day tip the balance?

It seems odd that people who are essentially capitalists are criticizing others for being paid or having money, especially because it was only through the financial backing National received that Key has retained power, not because of National's policy agenda that is clearly lacking in any real substance. However, it's more likely that they're simply attempting to further undermine the entrepreneurs credibility to try and counter any future court decisions that go in his favour.

The third target down their list, Hone Harawira, still has a reasonable chance of regaining his seat at the next election, provided he stands. Three years of further cuts and social policy failure is going to leave the good people of Te Tai Tokera wondering why they didn't support MANA this time round. Sure, there may be a few who changed their votes because of a slight change in policy direction, but the main reason Harawira lost his seat was because of media bias, mistakes during campaigning and disunity within the left wing.

Watching Kelvin Davis actively campaign with National's propagandists was particularly disconcerting. Because of such occurrences, there's no question that the size of no-mans-land between political parties on the left, that invariably share the same goals, has increased.

This is in fact the main reason for National's success, particularly vote splitting and actively campaigning to undermine candidates standing on similar platforms. You very rarely see such things from within National, as anybody who even thinks about questioning the leader and the regimes agenda is given the dirty politics treatment.

While the right wing are still baying for blood, Labour and the wider left must move to develop a strategy to ensure their policies gain traction with all New Zealanders.

Those with ulterior motives must not be allowed to side-track such an important dialog, which must be able to cut through the dirty politics disease that continues to poison our democracy.

10 questions for journalists

There are a number of pressing questions concerning the mainstream medias involvement in the underhanded activities of the National party and their attack bloggers, secret government activity that was insightfully outlined in Nicky Hager's groundbreaking book, Dirty Politics.

Giovanni Tiso

These questions are even more relevant now that the source of the information the book was based on, Rawshark, has chosen not to release any further details to the public. He or she has instead provided all the hard data to various media outlets, which have to date chosen to remain completely silent about any further undemocratic behaviour the public clearly has a vested interest in knowing about.

So in regards to the MSM's complicity in the Dirty Politics scandal and their unwillingness to further enlighten the public about what has occurred, here are some very relevant questions by Giovanni Tiso that they might like to perhaps answer:

Ralston has left us until the election. Gower thinks Twitter is no longer fun. A few questions about dirty politics and the media, then.

1. A system was in place for subverting the political process. We have been told repeatedly and haughtily that everyone knew about it.

2. If everyone knew about it, why wasn’t the public told? I agree with Matt Nippert: journalism failed us on this one.

3. This is why the blanket defense of journalism against its critics is distasteful. The media were the third track.

4. If there was a failure, where are the consequences: has any political editor, reporter or commentator resigned?

5. Has any newspaper or TV editor signalled a change in the way things will be done and whom will be asked for comment on politics & policy?

6. It seems to me that none of this has occurred. All the media people mentioned in the book are still employed, including Glucina & Hooton.

7. The Panel carries on inviting representatives of fake organizations that have exposed by Hager as government attack dogs, and so forth.

8. Similarly, the highly-placed journos who ridiculed the story on day 1 are still holding court a month and several stages of grief later.

9. I hope there are some VERY robust discussions going on behind the scenes about the need for the industry to change.

10. Until then, all calls to stop being critical of journalists and journalism should be treated as the tone-based derails they are. ENDS.

Personally I think Giovanni Tiso's questions deserve some answers. If they're not forthcoming, as I suspect they won't be, then we can expect that the MSM is going to carry on like it's business as usual...we can expect them to allow the National parties dirty politics to continue poisoning our political system for the foreseeable future.

H/T The Standard

Christians don't like Dirty Politics

It's always interesting to see differing opinions on certain topics especially when they relate to politics and policy that can have a huge impact on all New Zealander's lives.

This was particularly the case with the responses to revelations in Nicky Hager's best selling book, Dirty Politics, by religious organisations and those that represent them.

Although usually very reserved in their opinions, almost all churches have recently spoken out about what the current National led government has been up to. First, let's hear from John Dew who is a Roman Catholic Archbishop from Wellington.

On Friday, the NZ Herald reported:

Outrage over dirty tricks healthy

There is a moral dimension to political representation. Our Catholic tradition describes responsible political authority as authority exercised with the virtues that make it possible to put power into practice as service. These virtues include patience, modesty, moderation, charity and efforts to share. The purpose of political activity is to work for the common good, which is the good of each person and of all people.

Power always carries the potential for corruption. This erodes trust and damages the relationship between those who govern and those who are governed.

At its worst it leads to a distortion of political choices and favours those who possess the means to influence those choices rather than the common good of all. But even before that point is reached, it leads to a growing distrust of public institutions and a reduced willingness to engage in the political process. It becomes an area of public service that people of integrity and honesty do not wish to be part of - as a society we need good, honest and generous people to put themselves forward to serve as our elected representatives.

The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services has also spoken out about another pressing issue that the current government is doing its best to ignore.

Today, Yahoo News reported:

Decline in home ownership 'will impact older people'

"We see the universal superannuation payment has been a success in keeping older people out of the worst of poverty, and that this model has merit for a number of vulnerable groups, including 285,000 children living in poverty", said McGlinchey. "However, this also means any change to Government policy on superannuation and other state supports, including state housing, will have a direct impact on a large group of older people who are highly dependent on superannuation as their main source of income".

Feedback from NZCCSS members show some early signs of pressure on state supports, with more elderly clients approaching services for food parcels and other assistance. This, against a backdrop of an increasing number of people living longer, is a signal that government needs to step up its preparation for an aging population if future generations of older people are to be supported appropriately.

Also today, Anglican Down Under reported:

The politics of hatred are not the politics of Jesus

If we do not tackle the emerging culture of hatred we are on a pathway which will end in violence. Our number one priority as Christians on 21 September is to challenge both winners and losers in our election to speak and act differently. Love not hate builds society. Love not hate respects human dignity. The God who made each of us is the God of love not the god of hate. That god is at work all over the world currently and we do not need further manifestations here in these islands.

Clearly the representatives of New Zealand's religious institutions are pretty much unanimous in their criticism of National's failed policies and especially their undemocratic Dirty Politics.

No wonder so many conservative voters are heading over to Colin Craig's party. However, I very much doubt their faith in him to provide a guiding light in parliament will last very long. I wonder who they'll turn to next?

Electoral Commission gets it wrong again

Today, those who stand up for free speech in a democratic society have had another victory. The organisations behind the Climate Voter campaign have won their High Court case against the Electoral Commission, who had previously ruled that the Climate Voter campaign to raise awareness about Climate Change issues was an electoral advertisement.

The Jackal had argued strongly against the Electoral Commission's flawed decisions, especially in terms of the Climate Voter campaign which was unjustly targeted by National's attack bloggers David Farrar and Cameron Slater. It's great to see the High Court judge has made the right decision in this case, especially in regards to this being a somewhat complex issue.

Here's Climate Voter reporting the good news:

This morning the High Court released its decision on the Climate Voter website at http://climatevoter.org.nz which the Electoral Commission considered to be an ‘election advertisement’ and therefore subject to a range of legal requirements.

Lawyer for the Climate Voter initiative, Dr Matthew Palmer QC, says the Court’s judgment accepts the core legal arguments made by the Climate Voter groups.

“The ruling confirms the core legal argument that the Electoral Act was not intended to capture normal issues-based advocacy. It upholds the right for websites to promote an issue as long as they do not encourage people to vote for or against a party or type of party,” he says.

The High Court also ruled against the Electoral Commission on another issue:

The High Court also ruled that a parody website at http://simon-bridges.co.nz created by Greenpeace, which the Electoral Commission said was an election advertisement, leading to the site being taken down, could not be considered an election advertisement. The site, which appeared to belong to the Minister for Energy Simon Bridges, was engulfed by swirling oil as part of an ongoing campaign by the organisation against deep sea oil drilling.

“Greenpeace is very pleased that our position on the Bridges parody site is completely vindicated,” says spokesperson Steve Abel.

So what's with the Electoral Commission making all these dodgy calls? It almost seems as though they're misinterpreting the law in order to try and shut down debate on anything that the current government doesn't want to talk about.

Not only have they put a lot of people through the court system that clearly shouldn't have had to pay lawyers to ensure the have freedom of speech, the Commission has consistently undermined New Zealanders right to be involved in the political debate either through advocacy for a particular issue or light hearted parody in the lead up to an election.

Clearly the Electoral Commissions decision making processes and the people involved in them need some attention in the form a procedural audit.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the courts also rule in favour of the musician Darren Watson. Let's just pre-empt their decision in favour of a fair and democratic New Zealand by playing his most excellent song, Planet Key:

Who is Jordan Williams?

Jordan Williams is another pathetic piece of dirty PR consultant trash who works closely with the discredited attack blogger Cameron Slater. Along with Simon Lusk and others, they're the inner cabal of muckrakers who promote the right wings Dirty Politics agenda which has in effect undermined our once great and decent democracy.

Jordan Williams has also set himself up as the Executive Director of the so-called Taxpayers' Union, which is a hard right wing lobby group that promotes the National and Act parties socially destructive agenda.

The Taxpayers' Union was meant to justify the outgoing government's cuts to taxpayer funded entities and councils. They were meant to stop wasteful spending, but have instead spent their time justifying wasteful spending by what is obviously a corrupt right wing government.

Today, the despicable spin-doctor attempted to divert people's attention away from yet another release of information by Rawshark using the twitter account @Whaledump2 that further implicates the propagandist's and various government officials in disgusting smear campaigns run by and on behalf of the National party and other big business interests:

My Labour sources are telling me that Matt McCarton has resigned. Is it a piss take?
— Jordan Williams (@JordNZ) September 4, 2014

A few minutes later the claim was robustly refuted:

From the horse's mouth. Matt McCarten emphatically denies he has quit or plans to.
— Vernon Small (@VernonSmall) September 4, 2014

What this shows is that the "Labour source" dickheads like Jordan Williams, Cameron Slater and David Farrar often point to in an attempt to discredit Labour is just a figment of their rather childish imaginations.

The fake insider giving information to be used against Labour doesn't exist, because anybody who actively and regularly leaked information from a political party like Labour would be found out and given the boot.

The sad truth of the matter is that the right wings propagandists have run out of ideas. They're making the same old tired moves while the truth about their Dirty Politics inexorably and inevitably destroys them and the unprincipled political parties they represent.

Put up or shut up

It has been amusing to watch John Key attempt to wriggle his way out of the Dirty Politics saga. At first he tried to pretend there was nothing going on and even though he hadn't read Nicky Hager's book, claimed it was all lies! However, when it became apparent that a lot of people were interested in what the National party and their attack bloggers were up to, the PM pathetically dismissed the allegations in the book as some sort of "left wing smear campaign" and a "conspiracy" to steal the election from National. What a goober!

John Key not accepting reality isn't cutting the mustard for National. In fact polling now shows that a majority of voters believe what the book and its corroborating emails are telling us. Clearly the Prime Minister's excuses and diversions aren't working, which is especially the case now that Judith Collins has had to resign.

On one hand we have John Key, various government Ministers, their staff and attack bloggers like Cameron Slater and David Farrar all claiming that Nicky Hager's book is a fiction, and then on the other hand we have a senior Cabinet Minister having to resign because of the facts.

Desperate for a way out of their predicament, those implicated in the Dirty Politics scandal have stupidly started to threaten legal action, even though they haven't got a leg to stand on. First we had the muckraker at the centre of Dirty Politics, Cameron Slater tweeting:

@Paul_Callahan @winstonpeters @KimDotcom old news, and not from SIS either as alleged, yet another defamation by Hager
— Whaleoil (@Whaleoil) August 13, 2014

Another National party propagandist, David Farrar, also claimed:

@dpfdpf @AnaSamways @nzdodo then you will be going to the police to lay a complaint of defamation then David..?
— james (@yorkstblues) August 14, 2014

Then on August 26, the NZ Herald reported:

Mr Mitchell said Mr Lusk had given him guidance on speeches and brochures.

"He was never working for me, he's never had an official role with me." Mr Lusk could not be reached for comment.

Mr Mitchell said the narrative in Dirty Politics was completely false, and he was considering legal action.

Just Yesterday, United Future's Peter Dunne tweeted:

@AdamGoodallYes I have said many times those comments are malicious unsubstantiated lies for which there is no basis in fact. Clear enough??
— Peter Dunne (@PeterDunneMP) September 2, 2014

Also yesterday, the NZ Herald reported:

Ms Collins said she had "no record" of "Facebook conversations" after the Herald sent her material supplied by Rawshark. "I believe you have forged documents. You are likely to have been taken in by a criminal. I am now considering lodging a complaint to police regarding what I believe to be forgeries."

To date, no defamation proceedings have been undertaken by these idiots...the obvious conclusion being that everything within Nicky Hager's book, Dirty Politics, is a true and a factual account of what the right wing has been up to.

Knowing the details are correct, Judith Collins et al aren't going to lodge false police complaints, because they realise that such investigations will unearth even more of their underhanded and undemocratic activity and likely result in them facing further charges.

David Farrar's dirty politics

On Sunday, the political program Q+A had a panel discussing the Dirty Politics revelations that have by all accounts but their own badly derailed the National parties campaigning. What I found most surprising about this panel is that it included somebody implicated in the right wings underhanded attack politics, David Farrar.

Not only was David Farrar AKA Pinko to his "friends" on the show, he was allowed to bleat on for ages while other panellists were closed out of the discussion. The nervous little man tried his best to downplay his seedy role in National's black-ops team, saying that it was merely people sharing information and that other political parties do it all the time as well. Yeah right!

Being that National Minister's have been providing sensitive information to their pet attack bloggers in order to discredit the people they don't like, and that no other political party has ever been found to have acted similarly, there is no validity to such a patently disingenuous argument. In other words there are no excuses for such despicably undemocratic behaviour.

By trying to minimize the terrible truth, David Farrar et al are clasping at straws in the hope that New Zealanders aren't interested in what the government and their propagandists get up to. Seemingly aided by a biased media, they intend to try and sweep the Dirty Politics scandal under the rug without having properly answered any of the pressing questions Nicky Hager's book raises.

However, some things cannot be hidden or covered up, and instead need to be exposed for all to see. Here's one such excerpt from the source material that deserves further attention:

April 25, 2011
-------------------------
Simon Lusk, 4/26, 12:01am

i wasnt going to say that in case your email gets read
-------------------------
Cameron Slater, 4/26, 12:02am

my email doesn't get read

lol

Apparently Pinko is the main driving force behind the Princess party
-------------------------
Simon Lusk, 4/26, 12:03am

well i was going to say i have cleared the field for you, given you the most likely targets and will get them drunk for you
-------------------------
Cameron Slater, 4/26, 12:03am

he has invited [REDACTED] to it and to the one the next night
-------------------------
Simon Lusk, 4/26, 12:03am

righto, good cleint recruitment

he asked if he can bring neil miller, which i said yes to
-------------------------
Cameron Slater, 4/26, 12:04am

she likes threesomes so it could be promising for her and a young nat
-------------------------
Simon Lusk, 4/26, 12:05am

i'd try [REDACTED] she is filthy

not many young nats coming, i told jordan i didnt want them because they are retards
-------------------------
Cameron Slater, 4/26, 12:05am

just dirty girls who flip it up
-------------------------
Simon Lusk, 4/26, 12:06am

thats the plan, and i have carefully kept the balance of princesses to guys uneven

make sure [REDACTED] knows not to come without a full princess outfit and a bottle of bubbly
-------------------------
Cameron Slater, 4/26, 12:08am

i better go book a fucking moneky suit

David Farrar, a trustee of the Free Speech Coalition, has tried his best to dismiss the 'Princess Party' as some sort of celebration of the Royals. In my opinion the discussion above shows that his weak defense is highly flawed. Clearly the sex party these National party propagandists set up was anything but innocent.

Old men organizing a party, then targeting and getting young woman drunk in order to have sex with them is clearly the activity of sexual deviants and such people should have no place within our political system.

The leaked communications between Cameron Slater and Simon Lusk are a pretty damn good reason not to have the repulsive David Farrar on our TV trying to defend his and the National parties dirty politics. His involvement in the 'Princess Party' is another good reason not to vote for National as well.

Who is Jason Ede?

Jason Ede is another go-between John Key and the National party employs to pass information on to their attack bloggers. Paid as a ministerial services staff member, Ede is in fact working directly for National's black op's team to undermine the opposition by passing on sensitive information, writing articles for and coaching right wing bloggers like Cameron Slater and David Farrar.

Jason Ede is in effect being paid by the taxpayer to promote the National party, which is clearly against the rules and raises further concerns about other ways the National party might be misusing taxpayers money. Clearly National isn't allowed to use public funds to secretly publish its propaganda attacking opposition parties through a third party.

In light of his role in the Dirty Politics scandal, John Key has tried to distance himself from the deceitful and unscrupulous Jason Ede. At the same time, Ede himself has tried to distance himself from those in the National party who were instructing him and the bloggers he was in turn working with to smear opposition parties.

Last Sunday, Stuff reported:

Jason Ede still has Beehive access

Prime Minister John Key says he can't explain why "black ops" spin doctor Jason Ede still has a staff access card to Parliament.

Ede is at the centre of claims in Nicky Hager's Dirty Politics book, in which it is alleged he fed gossip, research and tips to Whaleoil blogger Cameron Slater.

Paid by the taxpayer as a ministerial services staff, Ede is also accused of infiltrating a Labour party database, which contained sensitive personal information. Slater said the website was insecure.

Ede was spotted in the Parliamentary complex last week - with a security access swipe card - despite National saying he is employed by them at the party's Wellington head office.

The dismally pathetic Jason Ede would have been trying to cover his tracks and attempting to remove evidence of his underhanded crimes against democracy. The problem for him and National is that there will still be a record of his collusion with their attack bloggers, because it appears the idiot propagandist used computers in Parliament that log all activity. This should make any investigation into his scurrilous activity and the evidence it uncovers pretty self-evident.

While John Key is trying to say that Jason Ede no longer works for the National party, he clearly does. In light of this lie you’ve got to wonder what exactly it will take for the Prime Minister to put his foot down and actually sack somebody? Not only is Jason Ede a weak willed individual, it appears, through his inaction, that the leader of the National party is as well.

National's dirty politics

The unacceptable behaviour of those named in Nicky Hager's book, Dirty Politics, should be a wake up call to everybody who values our democracy in New Zealand. Not only have senior officials in the Prime Minister's office been implicated in the scandal, the emails the book is based upon also prove beyond a doubt that Minister’s themselves have been involved in totally underhanded and devious tactics that are entirely unacceptable!

Here are a few of the undemocratic things National and their propagandists have been up to:

We now know that the National party colluded with right wing blogger Cameron Slater to illegally access (hack) the Labour Party’s computers and that they used the private information gained to launch a smear campaign against Labour in the lead up to an election, that the Prime Minister's press secretary at the time, Jason Ede, informed Slater about sensitive SIS information and that John Key fast-tracked its release in order to damage opposition leader Phil Goff. We also had our suspicions confirmed that National regularly colludes with Slater and David Farrar to attack the opposition and that articles on Kiwiblog are written by National’s communications staffers and published under David Farrar’s name.

Perhaps the most concerning revelation however has been that Judith Collins released private information to Slater with the intention of it being published and in order to damage an Internal Affairs official named Simon Pleasants who later received death threats. Possibly with the Ministers help, Slater somehow manipulated corrections to shift an inmate to a remote prison, which resulted in the prisoners attempted suicide. Like Kiwiblog, National directly contributes much of the nasty content on Whale Oil Beef Hooked. It's also been shown that a number of right wing propagandists manipulate the iPredict system and then use those fake results to promote National party propaganda and that it’s likely Slater et al blackmailed Rodney Hide to resign because of the ‘dodgy texts’ he had sent to a young woman in 2011.

We also know that Slater promotes tobacco and alcohol interest with articles written by Carrick Graham, spin that is published under Cameron Slater’s own name. The publishing of these vicious attack articles is paid for by the tobacco industry to target academics in order to discredit their research. Furthermore, we have learnt that Slater and Simon Lusk run smear campaigns in National safe-seats to ensure their candidates are selected to stand, and that Mark Mitchell was one such client who was selected to stand and is now an MP. Last but not least, we have learnt that Slater employs the services of prostitutes in order to gain information he uses to blackmail and attack people online.

With an all too obvious association between Cameron Slater’s deviousness and the National party, I really don’t think John Key can simply bluff his way out of all this. Strangely enough that’s exactly what the Prime Minister appears to be trying to do…shrug it off like none of it matters. In my opinion, his tired old Crosby Textor script isn’t going to work this time because; despite a lack of proper coverage by some mainstream media outlets, a hell of a lot of people are really interested in National’s Dirty Politics.

The other claim John Key has made is that left wing parties have launched a smear campaign and aren’t interested in the issues that really matter. Anybody who compares the release and promotion of policy from the various parties will know that John Key’s claims are completely untrue. The idiot is also saying the opposition is somehow involved in the actual hacking and leaking of the Dirty Politics emails and that more people are interested in National’s cycle lanes. This is about as stupid as his claims that the Internet/Mana party was somehow involved in burning an effigy of the Prime Minister…it’s about as moronic as Slater jumping to conclusions and laying a police complaint against Kim Dotcom.

Clearly the National party had no idea what Nicky Hager’s book was about, which has resulted in the Prime Minister being left out in the cold and floundering for excuses. Unless he properly addresses the serious issues raised in Nicky Hager’s book by sacking Judith Collins to start with, he looks weak and set to drown in the political torrent of negative press that will likely ensure National is all washed up come election time.

Aw! Did I offend you?

No silver bullet

Last week, Stuff reported:

Mr Shearer says the bill would closely follow the Australian model, where foreigners can buy land and build houses.

"By itself this is not a silver bullet for housing affordability, but it is part of the solution," he says.

Then on Monday, the NZ Herald reported:

As Bill English told conference delegates, there was no magic bullet. It was instead a case of doing lots of things which "all push in the right direction".

Yesterday, the NZ Herald editorial, which quoted from Bill English's magic bullet speech, then ran with the headline:

National's home plan no silver bullet.

Today, the Otago Daily Times reported on John Key saying:

"There's no silver bullet. In any three-month period in New Zealand 100,000 jobs are lost or created. Our job is to create them at a faster rate than they are lost."

Also today, David Farrar wrote:

I don’t think charter schools are a silver bullet.

It appears that the right wing have learnt a new catch phrase. Perhaps they've resorted to taking cues from David Shearer because they're bereft of ideas. LOL!

Farrar is a fool

Today, Kiwibog reported:

Great to hear a Labour MP blast fiscal irresponsibility and raise the alarm on debt. I can only presume Lianne will not be voting Labour at the next election then, as their policies are for more spending and more debt.

What a load of rubbish! When the fifth Labour government gained power in 1999 government debt was around 17% of GDP. They paid this down until it was 9.4% of GDP in 2008.

Then National gained power and started borrowing extensively to fund tax cuts for the rich and roads of little significance. Government debt to GDP is now well over 30%, which is the level at which countries usually start to struggle to meet their commitments.

In fact this debt clock shows National debt at an alarming 38% of GDP. Total debt is even worse at around 130% of GDP, all thanks to Nationals financial mismanagement.

Many of Labour's policies actually pay for themselves. Couple this with an effective capital gains tax and the oppositions policies are far more likely to get New Zealand back in the black again.

If the current borrowing regime continues, National will turn New Zealand into another Greece.

Irrelevant propagandists

In spectacular fashion (as exciting as politics in New Zealand gets anyway) Peter Dunne has resigned as a Minister of the Crown, and looks set to end his political career in disgrace.

With a few well-timed statements and insider info, Winston Peters could have in fact brought down the government... The reason being that if Dunne is found by the Police to have leaked confidential information he will be forced from parliament, which would mean National's already tenuous hold on power becomes even flimsier.

If the government cannot pass legislation, a call of no confidence would be successful, and a snap election that National will likely lose will be called.

The stakes are very high indeed and currently Peter Dunne is stuck high and dry for people to speculate about his motivations. The embattled MP has already admitted there's no credible excuse for not releasing all his email correspondence with the reporter who broke the story about the Kitteridge report, Andrea Vance. Despite that non-disclosure, what is clear is that the right wing propagandist’s couldn't have been more incorrect when they dismissed Peters’ proclamations out of hand.

At the time, it was clear to me that Peters wouldn’t have made such claims without being able to follow through. The fallout from making false claims of this nature could’ve been just as damaging to Peters' career as they have proven to be for Dunne.

However Peters gained knowledge of who the leaker was, the reaction by many right wing propagandists when he made that information public was clearly inappropriate. Obviously their defunct opinions were based on nothing more than speculation and hatred, which caused them to lose all objectivity.

Here's David Farrar venting his spleen:

This is a cowardly and defamatory smear. It is especially cowardly because Peters has a long record of suing people for defamation (and threatening numerous more that he will do so) yet he cowers under parliamentary privilege to defame Dunne.

The issue here isn't how the public was informed, or whether Peters ensured he was protected with parliamentary privilege, which exists for a very good reason. The issue is that Peters has been proven to be correct... Why else would Dunne resign? That makes Farrar entirely wrong, and he should apologize for his unacceptable comments.

Another propagandist who should apologize for his pathetic analysis is NBR reporter Jock Anderson, who wrote (pay-walled):

Mr Peters does not have the guts to repeat his allegation outside Parliament because he is afraid Mr Dunne might sue him for defamation.

This suggests Mr Peters knows his allegation is not true.

That's bad enough, but what about the reaction from the most deluded right wing propagandist of them all, Cameron Slater:

Of course it isn’t true…even yesterday in parliament he failed to produce any evidence, bizarrely suggesting that cellphone records would prove the leak of a document.

Get that, another statement of fact by the slug that has been proven entirely wrong. Why exactly Slater thinks cell phone records can't prove Dunne is the leaker shows just how deluded old blubber guts is. The paid propagandist also wrote:

Winston Peters is a cancer on the body politic. Good on Jock Anderson for calling out Winston Peters. 

Yeah! Good on Jock for putting his foot right in the proverbial and Farrar and Slater jumping in like the idiots they are.

These divisive individuals also put the boot into Peters about a Privileges Committee investigation concerning donations NZ First received from Owen Glen. What they fail to report is that Winston Peters was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Serious Fraud Office. Any reference to historic events the propagandists have made to try and paint Peters in a bad light should be viewed for what it is, muckraking!

The fact that the right is desperately trying to discredit Winston Peters with their suppositions clearly shows where NZ First’s allegiance in forming any future government should be.

What this all shows is that the opinions of the tory propagandists are entirely worthless! They have no credibility and have proven time and time again their ineptitude at reading and reporting the facts.

The mainstream media should learn to ignore their spin doctoring. That’s if they want to be taken seriously, which is obviously not a goal for people like David Farar, Cameron Slater and Jock Anderson.

Economic sabotage

It's been somewhat amusing to see the right wings response to the Labour/Greens policy announcement last week that will make power prices cheaper. In fact their reaction has been way over the top with claims that intervening in the "free" market that has obviously failed consumers will somehow be the end of the world.

Clearly level heads did not prevailed, with Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce saying the policy was "nothing more than deliberate economic sabotage" and amounted to a "Polish shipyard approach". Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges said the proposal was "reminiscent of Soviet communism" while Prime Minister John Key said it would result in power cuts and "leave families huddling around candles" for warmth.

But if that wasn't enough baseless rhetoric, Business NZ chief executive Phil O'Reilly said it amounted to "economic vandalism" while right wing propagandist Fran O’Sullivan said Labour was adopting a Hugo Chavez style of politics and likened them and the Greens to a "Mafia". Not that anybody really cares what he thinks, Libertarianz Party leader Richard McGrath said it "smacks of economic dyslexia" whatever that is?

Meanwhile John Banks claimed it would "destroy the incentive to invest and to use electricity efficiently" and was therefore a "return to Muldoonism" of all things. Not to be outdone, Cameron Slater said it was "wanton vandalism" and "economic terrorism" while David Farrar said it would cause "no new generation" to be built and lead to the government confiscating people's houses... You couldn't make this shit up.

Now stop laughing for a second and give their insane claims the credence they clearly don't deserve... Let's explore the concept of economic sabotage:

Economic Sabotage is the practice of undermining the economy of a nation. It is a tactic used to pressure governments. The power of the markets is such, that it may be wielded as a weapon to damage the stability a countries economy, raising food/fuel prices, interest rates on international debts and other factors important to an economy. Economic Sabotage can be used against a foreign government to undermine their standing, or by the ruling class to undermine left-wing governments.

So, economic sabotage is generally defined as raising prices for consumers, which would make NZ Power (PDF) the exact opposite of economic sabotage. An actual example of economic sabotage can be seen with Nationals huge increase in external government debt:

That's what real economic sabotage looks like folks.

Trying to silence the media

Yesterday, One News reported:

Prime Minister John Key says he will be reviewing the way he answers questions, as he continues to back his actions over the recruitment of Ian Fletcher to head the GCSB.

Key said today that it was an "ethical process" and he "didn't do anything wrong at all", and described those reporting on the story as "knuckleheads".

Knuckleheads? Surely the PM could've come up with a better obscenity than that? Although often biased, most journalists aren't in my opinion of questionable intelligence. In fact most are highly intelligent, which makes the insult entirely ineffectual!

The question is whether Key's criticism will cause the mainstream media to change tack? Often they let the prime minister off the hook with relatively little critical analysis. This has allowed the public to be hoodwinked into believing He's doing a good job, with polling showing Key continues to be the most preferred Prime Minister by a country mile.

The problem is that Key is threatening journalists who rely on having quick answers to their questions. Without that access, there won't be any "scoop" and their readership and therefore sales would fall. Basically Key is saying that if the MSM continues to be critical of his shonky administration, he will inhibit their ability to report on what the government is up to... How undemocratic is that?

This threat has worked before, with Key saying in May last year that the media had become "more aggressive and hostile" towards him and that further restrictions would be implemented against the press gallery. The MSM subsequently went off the ball, whereby John Key was invariably given a hospital pass for his numerous stuff ups... But perhaps things are different this time?

Today, The Southland Times reported:

Knuckleheads that we are, John Key has put the news media and the Opposition on notice not to come to him seeking quick answers on what he's done in the past.

He wants time to get his story str . . . sorry, to prepare the sort of detailed and researched replies that would satisfy the excruciatingly close examinations that are then applied to them.

Like whether they are truthful.

Mr Key's professions of forgetfulness are themselves becoming damagingly memorable, but this latest move is a bad tactical error.

Attacking the media is clearly not advantageous, and unusually even some right wing propagandists have been critical of Keys stupidity. However on the fact that Key dismissed other more qualified candidates to appoint his mate Ian Fletcher to be the head of the GCSB they're only willing to slap him over the wrist with a wet bus ticket.

On Wednesday, Kiwibog reported:

I think it is unfortunate the Prime Minister phoned Ian Fletcher to suggest he applies. While he would not have got the job if he wasn’t qualified, a phone call from the PM soliciting the application would carry weight with the State Services Commission.

Yes! it's very "unfortunate" that the Prime Minister of New Zealand is corrupt! David Farrar and his fellow propagandists have completely ignored the fact that Key misled the House of Representatives over his involvement in the appointment of Ian Fletcher, which is a sackable offence. However it's better than what they usually do, which is to totally ignore things that make National look bad... Impartiality is obviously a foreign concept for many right wing bloggers.

Let's hope the MSM doesn't appreciate Key trying to again bully them into silence.